The useful properties of plant ethylene receptor inhibitors have been well documented. For example, 1-methylcyclopropene (CAS #3100-04-7), a substituted cyclopropene (hereafter, simply referred to as “1-MCP”), has been demonstrated to help increase the shelf life and storage characteristics of many fruits and flowers.
More recently, it has been demonstrated that 1-MCP, or analogues thereof, can be used in agricultural applications. Specifically, 1-MCP, and analogues thereof, are used to retard the ripening process in plants, which allows the plant materials to last much longer than untreated plants. Additionally, 1-MCP, and analogues thereof, are used for crop protection during times of stress that includes drought, excessive heat, and excessively low temperatures. With regard to the above specified agricultural applications and without limitation, the 1-MCP analogue compounds may be considered to be related compounds which have similar uses as 1-MCP in agricultural applications. The analogues of 1-MCP with regard to the above specified agricultural applications involve compounds which contain the cyclopropene moiety. The compounds cyclopropene, 3-methylcyclopropene, 1-ethylcyclopropene, 1,2-dimethylcyclopropene, 1,3-dimethylcyclopropene, and 3,3-dimethylcyclopropene have similar agricultural significance, albeit the aforementioned compounds are weaker plant ethylene receptor inhibitors in comparison to 1-MCP, and they are included amongst many other releasable analogue compounds that are covered by this technology. Generally, these cyclopropene containing compounds are regarded as plant ethylene receptor antagonist, and inhibit plant senescence and abscission in a wide variety of plant species. In particular, the cyclopropene containing analogue 1-trifluoromethylcyclopropene (hereafter, simply referred to as “1-TFMCP”) is a plant ethylene receptor antagonist with different characteristics than 1-MCP which include slightly increased water solubility and increased penetration through waxy or otherwise lipophilic layers of some plant species.
Unfortunately, 1-MCP and 1-TFMCP are highly unstable gases, and so cannot be conventionally applied, or easily stored for long periods of time. Presently, the only commercially available forms of 1-MCP are in highly dilute mixtures and 1-TFMCP is not commercially available. For the foregoing reasons, there is a need for a solution to the problems associated with the shelf-life, long term storage, transport, and release of 1-MCP, 1-TFMCP, and additional cyclopropene containing analogues.